


Talking and Talking

by Eucalyptusace



Category: Final Fantasy VII
Genre: Dialogue-Only, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-03-16
Updated: 2018-03-16
Packaged: 2019-04-01 03:57:21
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,325
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13989969
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Eucalyptusace/pseuds/Eucalyptusace
Summary: Zack fills the silence while Cloud struggles with being barely lucid, post-breakout.





	Talking and Talking

—I think…I think I’m losing my mind. 

—You shouldn’t be afraid of that, man. It’s not that big of a deal. I’m gonna help you out. Let me know when something is too hard for you. 

—I…I’m not sure...if….things are hard or not. 

—Can you grab my hand? Just grab it and hold on. Now, one time I lost my mind for a while. It was right when they started the mako procedures, the really heavy-duty injections once my clearance had been accepted. The things I felt were like ghosts of former feeling. Like I wasn’t really experiencing things anymore. I was just having memories, like a long dream I wouldn’t ever wake up from. I was scared until I realized that life is just a series of memories anyway. There’s nothing to be afraid of because nothing is real if it’s not happening to you. Does that make sense? Squeeze my hand. The only thing that freaked me out was when I felt I was slipping into another…place or something. But…well I guess I never did because here I am to talk about it now. So it never happened, it was just in my head where the fear lives. It was scary but…I’m okay. You’ll be okay too. Hey. Listen. Your hands are cold. I just remembered something like this happening to me before. It was last summer. I went on a personal solo trip for a few weeks to the country side where I camped in the woods for twenty-seven nights. I’m serious, it was awesome. I had a tent but it was small and kind of dingy, and one night it rained and all my stuff got wet! All my clothes, everything, my sleeping bag, my clock. I was pissed. But the next day it was beautiful outside, like the rain broke the mugginess and the sun came out. It was great, but I was still pissed because all my socks were soaked and my shoes were caked in mud. So I found this spot on a hot rock where I laid my stuff out to dry, and I stripped down naked to dry off my clothes. Oh man. It was awesome being naked in the woods all by myself, like a caveman. I was thinking screw civilization, I can fork it out on my own out here without all that shit like systems and government and, you know, cars and shit. I felt really alive. But I didn’t know what to do until my stuff dried off, so I stomped around for awhile marking my territory so to speak. I befriended a squirrel family, and then I took all their nuts to remind them who’s at the top of the food chain. Did you…are you sleeping? I didn’t get to the best part yet. Because after a couple hours, according to the sun at least, I heard people coming. But listen, listen! It was all girls. Hah, I knew you were listening. And I was still naked. So I had a decision to make, a very important one. Should I go full Tarzan or half Tarzan? 

—…I don’t believe you.

—You don’t believe me? You think I would have gone Rambo instead? If I had the clothes and the guns, I would have. These girls though, I followed them to this sort of cliff overlooking a really nice part of the forest. There were a lot of good places to pose, so I went ahead and made myself look pretty and got up on a higher rock and posed. Have you heard of the Adonis statue? Are you laughing? It looked cool. They took forever to even see me, and I thought they were going to leave before I could make an impression. But I also had this thought that maybe it wasn’t such a good idea because….I don’t really know. I just started having doubts. But they finally saw me! I’m not shitting you, they invited me back to their campsite in order to learn more! We had a foursome, man. These girls were crazy! 

—No way.

—Are you callin’ me a liar? I got their number. They all lived together! But whenever I tried to call, it would just keep ringing forever. So….I don’t wanna know what that means. But oh well, it was a memory that I will cherish forever. The time I went half-Tarzan. I bet if I went full-Tarzan it wouldn’t have worked out the way it did. Maybe I wouldn’t gotten a real phone number though. Probably not. I did good with what I had. I’m a resourceful guy, you know, it’s why I survived alone in the woods for so long. I can build things with my hands. Are you okay? Sorry, I keep asking. You’ll be okay, I know it. I’m not an idiot, you know. I have a pretty perceptive head on my shoulders. Pretty and perceptive! So tell me something. Have you ever gone full-Tarzan? Or been camping? Or seen a girl naked? Do you even like girls? I’m joking. Ha…ha… Can you speak? Hey. Wake up, man.

—I….I….I don’t know.

—Yeah you do, you can’t keep secrets from me. But I had a feeling you were a virgin. I could tell by the way you walk. I’m just kidding! Don’t hate me. I’m looking out for you.

—Uh…Are we….going somewhere? Did I miss the train? Is….Is….

—What train? No, listen, we’re going to get something better. A boat! We’ll sail across the ocean and head east from there. I’ll get you a doctor. It’s all good, man! Don’t worry. Don’t freak out, okay? Squeeze my hand again. Do you trust me? You won’t lose your mind. Hey. Did I ever tell you about the time I almost did acid? Oh man. I just turned eighteen and went to the Pyramid Club with my boys in sector 1. To be honest, that place is fun as hell even if it smells like gasoline! These seedy bozos were dropping roofies in all the drinks right in front of the barman! Nobody was getting kicked out. I’m trashed and these guys next to me are rolling molly and smooching it up and I just had to watch because it was like super-human vacuum sucking action. I thought it was hilarious. My buddy comes over to me with this handful of tin foil and says we’re all dropping, and by that point I was the only one left without a tab. Not gonna lie, man, I wasn’t feeling it. I just didn’t know. You know? So I opted out. I don’t regret it . We went to get breakfast at Point B later that night, and I was the only one who was talkin’! My boys were sitting there in the booth with me doing weird shit like pouring salt on the table and rocking back and forth. I was the designated trip-sitter. And we all went back to my place and played video games until noon. They told me there was some psychic shit going on between them all that I wasn’t part of because I was sober or whatever. It didn’t look fun though. Come here. Go to sleep. Tomorrow will be fine. Don’t do acid, okay? Don’t fry your brain up. Are you sleeping….? Man. I’m talking my voice off. Don’t worry about me though! I’ll get both us though this. Trust me. I’ll keep on talking if it makes things better. Wish I had a beer though. Or a lady. Not that you’re not good company! Just…nah, I’m going to sleep now too. Hey. You won’t go crazy. I been though shit, and I know you’ll be okay. Got it? I’m still talking to myself. Are you up? I need to sleep. I’m tired as hell. Okay…. Tomorrow is a new day! Good night.


End file.
